Bernard Larsson, Die ganze Stadt Berlin is a snapshot of Berlin in the early 1960s. Larsson’s photographs paint a dense and vivid picture of the divided city. As the subtitle – Politische Fotos – announces, Larsson’s images are intended to make a political statement, effectively re-unifying Berlin. His images express the deep desire of a nation to live as one. Though not outspokenly so, this could easily be considered a protest book.

Bernard Larsson was William Klein’s assistant in Paris for over two years during the late 1950s. Klein’s influence is clearly visible, particularly in the photographs of children playing. Larsson mixes classic documentary style photography with bolder images and a more progressive photographic language. A valuable historical document and a fine example of a street photography classic.

Published in 1964 by Nannen-Verlag GmbH Hamburg as part of a series (ostensibly intended as Christmas presents, rather than for commercial sale) by the German newspaper Die Zeit. The series ran to only three publications, distributed in the following order: Bernhard Larsson’s Die ganze Stadt Berlin in 1964, William Klein’s Moskau in 1965, and Klein’s Tokio in 1966.

The book was published as a clothbound hard cover with photo illustrated dust jacket. A soft cover also exists, in at least two versions (one with photo illustrated cover, and a plain graphic version).

11-page essay by French writer Michel Butor

Translated from the original French into German by Helmut Scheffel

Excerpt from a letter by Goethe to Karl Jakob Ludwig Iken from 27th September 1827.

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